


A Deer and a Dog Walked into a Bar

by RizaHawkeyePierce



Series: Magical Youths' Guide to Growing Up [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Recreational Drug Use, Self-Destruction, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:29:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26377306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RizaHawkeyePierce/pseuds/RizaHawkeyePierce
Summary: Sirius is living with James after running away from his parents, but he seems bent on self-destruction.
Relationships: Sirius Black & James Potter
Series: Magical Youths' Guide to Growing Up [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1916311
Kudos: 15
Collections: Marauders





	A Deer and a Dog Walked into a Bar

Two weeks after Sirius came to stay with them, James was exhausted. Sirius had insisted on going out every night after James’ parents went to bed. They stayed out until three or four in the morning, got riotously drunk at a succession of Muggle clubs, Sirius would often disappear into a back room with a girl, sometimes to reappear a few minutes later with an angry boyfriend on his tail, who Sirius would either fight or befriend, depending on his mood. Sirius also tended to take any pills anyone gave him without bothering to find out what they were. He’d convinced James to try something too, the first night they went out. It felt great while it lasted, but when they woke up in a field with no money the next morning, he decided it would be better if at least one of them was sober. Well, not exactly sober, but just drunk, not on mystery drugs.

He found himself drinking less as time went on, too. It was easier to locate Sirius when he himself wasn’t stumbling around the place and easier to talk Sirius down from the next stupid idea if the alcohol wasn’t telling him that maybe it was actually a great idea.

Over the last few days, James felt a growing resentment at Sirius’ lack of regard for safety. Last night James had had one drink at the start of the evening and hadn’t even had a chance to get more because he spent the entirety of the night stopping Sirius from fighting someone or stealing something or vandalizing property. James was also realizing that drunk people were very irritating when you yourself were not drunk.

He’d brought up some concerns to his parents after a week of this behavior. So far they’d raised no objections to the boys staying out all night. His father had only given them a knowing wink on their first night and said not to get caught doing anything illegal. When James asked for their advice, they were no more concerned.

“He’s just blowing off some steam, James,” his mother said. “Surely you can understand wanting to cut loose after what he’s been through.”

“It seems like more than that, though,” said James. He hesitated, deciding whether to tell them about the drugs Sirius was taking every night. But surely they could tell. Maybe they were right, and it wasn’t a big deal.

Now, however, James wanted nothing more than a night in. It was late afternoon and he somehow still felt hungover even with his single drink the night before. Sirius, however, had bounded out of bed half an hour ago and had been in the bathroom getting ready ever since. James stared at the bathroom door for a moment, took a deep breath, and knocked.

Sirius poked his head out.

“Hey, mate. What’s up?” he said, leaving the door open and continuing to tease his hair into the desired shape.

“I swear, Padfoot, you use more hair potion than you drink booze,” James said, shaking his head.

“Well, that makes one of us-- you _think_ we call you Prongs because of the antlers, but actually…” he reached over and ruffled James’ hair.

“Stop it, you’re making matters worse than they are already.”

“Why are you still in pajamas, mate? We need to get going if we want to get into the best clubs.”

“Sirius, why don’t we-- Maybe we should stay in tonight,” James said.

Sirius looked at him in confusion. “Why?”

“Well,” said James, “maybe there are...some...things...we could do here instead.”

“What, like have me review your poems you’ve written for Lily? Trust me here, and I say this to you as a friend, I have already read them, and they are not for human consumption.”

James felt himself going red. “I--that’s not what I--”

“You need to move on, Prongs,” said Sirius, giving a final flick to his hair with the comb. “There are plenty of other fish in the sea. Such as,” he said, brushing past James and starting to march down the hallway, “those lovelies we will meet tonight, if you’re not too scared to do anything with them…”

“I--that’s--why are you so desperate to go out every night?”

Sirius froze. He turned his head to look at James over his shoulder. “Why are you so _desperate_ not to?”

“I’m not _desperate_ , I’m just tired.”

“Tired of what? Tired of having fun? Tired of not being a lame sad-sack who follows the same girl around for _years_?” Sirius turned to face James, smirking.

“No, I’m tired of babysitting _you._ ” James strode forward and jabbed his finger at Sirius. “I can’t have any fun when we go out because I have to make sure _you_ don’t do something stupid that gets you -- or both of us-- killed.”

“Oh, _please._ You don’t even know how to have fun anymore.”

“‘ _Help me fight this girl’s huge boyfriend, James, and his five huge mates. Hey James, I found this handful of pills on the floor - let’s crush them up and snort them and see what happens. Hold my precious hair back while I sick up all over the bushes outside, James.’_ I’m your _friend_ , Sirius. It’s not my job to make up for your shitty parents.”

Sirius went white. For a second, James was sure Sirius would hit him, maybe even wanted him to. But Sirius just stared at him a moment longer, then said flatly, “Fine. I want to go out. You don’t. I’ll go by myself and solve both our problems.”

“Great,” said James. He stalked to his room and slammed the door

  
  


James lay on his bed, fuming, as he heard the front door open and close. He punched his pillow into a more comfortable shape and rolled over, thinking at last he’d get a decent amount of sleep.

He woke up in darkness, groggy and disoriented. His watch was next to his bed. He checked it--4:30 AM. He pushed himself out of bed, staggered to the door and looked down the hallway. All the lights were off--Sirius must have already come back. He padded down the hallway, rubbing his face, before tapping softly on Sirius’ door.

“Sirius,” he whispered, “you awake?”

No response.

James opened the door quietly and poked his head in.

Sirius wasn’t in the room. He hadn’t come home yet.

James swore, rushed back to his room, struggled out of his pajamas and into some clothes, threw on a jacket, grabbed his wand and went to the fireplace.

“The Leaky Cauldron,” he hissed, throwing a pinch of Floo Powder into the fire and stepping into it as it flared up. He tried to think where Sirius might be as he spun through the flames and staggered out of the fireplace into the Cauldron.

“Hey Tom,” said James, catching sight of the landlord rolling out a new keg of beer.

“Good morning, young Potter,” said Tom.

“Tom, have you seen Sirius come through?”

“Not since yesterday afternoon,” said Tom. “But I’ll let him know you’re looking if’n I see him.”

“Right. Thanks,” said James, and he left the shop to the Muggle side of the street.

The street was still dark except for streetlights and quieter than James had ever seen it, and he felt the shop owners eyeing him suspiciously, as though a teenage boy out in the early hours of the morning could be up to nothing but trouble.

Most of the clubs Sirius liked were a few streets over from the Leaky Cauldron, so James headed in that direction, hoping he wouldn’t miss Sirius coming back the other way.

James reached the first club as the light was beginning to go gray and edge toward dawn. The club, which looked exciting and brightly lit in the evening, looked drab and dim in the early morning. James saw a bartender inside wiping down tables. He knocked on the door and the bartender looked up. The bartender shook his head and waved James away. James knocked again, more persistently. The bartender flung his rag down and stomped over to the door.

“Piss off, we’re closed,” he said, pushing the door open slightly. He turned back inside.

“Wait, I’m looking for my friend,” said James loudly as the door swung shut. The bartender turned to James once more, squinting at him.

“You been here a lot lately?” he asked.

“Yeah. Yes.” said James.

“Your friend--taller, louder, stupid hair?”

“Yeah, that’s him.”

“He was here, but we chucked him out ages ago for fighting.”

James sighed. “Yeah, sounds right.”

“Good luck,” said the bartender, letting the door fall closed.

James made his way up the street to the next club. This one was dark inside. He knocked at the door, but no one answered, and when he peered through the windows, he couldn’t see anyone. The third club was the same, and so was the fourth.

“Sirius!” James yelled back down the street. The few people outside looked up, startled, but there was no response. He swore again and strode down the alley toward the next club.

It started to drizzle, and James turned up the collar on his jacket to keep the rain off his neck and tucked his hands in his pockets. The alleyway stank of garbage and urine, and the rain seemed to be stirring up the smells, making them more potent.

A man stepped into the entrance of the alleyway coming toward James. He was walking too casually, and James stepped over to the side of the alley to give him a wide berth, but the man stepped to the side to keep himself in front of James.

“Hey, mate,” he said, “I need some money for bus fare. Couldn’t spare a couple quid, could you?” He grinned, and James could see the light glinting off his teeth.

“Don’t have any money on me, sorry,” said James, trying to edge around the man.

“See, people always say that,” said the man, his grin starting to look more like a leer, sidestepping again to block James. “But often we find they do have some cash if they look a bit harder.”

James turned around to see two more men edging his way, one of them holding a knife. The first man was also holding a knife now. James curled his fist around his wand in his jacket pocket, trying to think of a spell that would get him out of this situation.

“Not me, sorry,” he said. “Just out for a stroll, didn’t think I’d be needing any money.” He was lying; he did have some money on him. He wasn’t sure how they’d react to Galleons and Sickles, though, and it would be a huge breach of the Statute of Secrecy to hand over Wizarding money.

The first man pushed James against the wall of the alley, one hand around his throat, pressing the knife to his gut with the other. James winced as he felt it break the skin.

“Give it to me,” the man whispered in James’ ear. His breath stank of alcohol. His two accomplices leered at James. James, wheezing as the man put pressure on his neck, slowly pulled his wand out of his pocket, trying not to attract their attention. He saw one of them glace down at it.

James squeezed his eyes shut and whispered, “ _Fulminis_ ”. His wand emitted a loud _crack_ and he saw a flash of light through his closed eyelids.

At once the pressure around his neck was removed, and he fell forward onto his hands and knees, coughing and gasping.

Through his ringing ears he heard three people screaming about a gun and three sets of feet running down the alley. He dragged himself to his feet and staggered in the opposite direction as best he could - the last thing he needed was a run-in with the Muggle police.

After he was far enough down the street that he thought no Muggle police officers were following him, he stopped and sat on a bench, trying to think where Sirius could be. Obviously all the clubs were closed by this time. Maybe he’d already gone back to James’ house

The rain was still coming down, and James was getting soaked. He pushed his wet fringe out of his eyes and contemplated going back. There was one more club just up the road, though, and James could see the landlady taking the rubbish outside.

“Excuse me,” James called over to her, getting up from the bench.

She looked his way as he closed the distance between them. “Why are you out here so early, love?” she asked, putting the rubbish bags in the skip and wiping her hands.

“I’m looking for my friend,” he said. “About this tall, longish hair, acts like an idiot most of the time?”

“You’re describing most of my clientele,” she said. “But a bunch of lads about your age went off that way, talking about jumping into the canal.” She pointed down a side street.

James swore. “That sounds like him. Thanks.”

“Care to come in and warm up a bit?”

“Nah, I better find him first.” He waved to her and headed off in the direction she’d pointed.

There was a bridge over a canal, but no one in sight on the street around it. He reached the railing, looked down, and saw Sirius lying on the concrete slope next to the canal.

“Shit,” said James, hopping over the fence and rushing, stumbling down the slope to Sirius. “Sirius!” he yelled as he ran.

Sirius’ eyes flickered open and he sat up as James reached him. James’ knees nearly buckled in relief and he crouched next to Sirius, looking him over.

Sirius looked at him in confusion. “What are you doing here, mate? How did you find me?” 

“I followed the trail of overpowering cologne and extreme overconfidence,” replied James. “You all right? Why are you lying here?”

“My leg’s fucked,” said Sirius. “Turns out canals are not deep in August.”

James looked down at Sirius’ feet. The left one was pointing in a very strange direction. “And the others just left you down here?” he asked, rolling up Sirius’ pant leg as gently as he could.

“Yeah,” said Sirius. His breath hissed between his teeth as James jostled his leg. “I think they scarpered when I started yelling, because by the time I dragged myself up here they were gone.” James winced in sympathy. The break was just above the ankle, and it was swollen and red with a large dent in the flesh.

“You didn’t bring your wand with you?”

“Didn’t think I’d need it to get drunk and dance,” said Sirius. He wasn’t wearing a jacket, and James noticed he was shivering. The night had started out warm, but the rain was cold, and Sirius had been in wet clothes for a while already.

“Here,” said James, shrugging out of his jacket. “The inside’s pretty dry, at least.”

Sirius took it without protest, probably a sign he was much colder than he let on. He sighed in relief, but something on James’ midsection caught his eye.

“Shit, mate, you’re bleeding,” he said. James looked down. A surprising amount of blood was spreading over his lower right side.

“Oh, would you look at that,” he said. He lifted up his shirt to find a long gouge in his belly. It was still oozing blood, but the bleeding seemed to be slowing and didn’t look too deep. He reached across Sirius to grab his wand from the pocket of his jacket and started running it over the injury, healing a little with every pass.

“What happened?” Sirius asked.

“Some Muggles tried to mug me. They were not successful.” He smirked at Sirius as he finished healing himself. “Okay, let’s see to your leg.”

Sirius was quiet as James mended his leg.

“There you go,” said James, finally. “It’s not perfect, but you should be able to limp along, at least. I’ll have my mum see to it when we get back.” He helped Sirius to his feet and Sirius gingerly put weight on his leg. He nodded and the two of them started to walk back toward the Leaky Cauldron, Sirius only limping slightly.

Sirius seemed to be avoiding James’ gaze, so James walked along in silence, not sure what to say.

“Sorry,” said Sirius shortly. James glanced over at him, but Sirius was still staring at the ground. “You shouldn’t have come after me.”

“What?” said James. “What was your plan if I didn’t find you? Wait until some Muggle found you and took you to a Muggle hospital?”

Sirius huffed a laugh. “Yeah. Pretty much.” They walked in silence for another moment. “You got _stabbed_ , though,” said Sirius, with a pained glance at James.

“Only a little,” James said. “Barely stabbed. If anything it was more like a graze.”

“You could have _died._ ” Sirius stopped walking, frowning, his hands in his pockets.

“So could you,” said James, stopping as well and turning to face Sirius. “What were you doing, jumping off bridges?”

“It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“Are you _trying_ to get yourself killed?”

Sirius hesitated, and James gasped.

“No!” said Sirius. “Not--not really. I don’t think so. I just...doing stupid stuff makes it easier not to think about--about anything.” He blinked a few times and swallowed. “But if you--if you get hurt coming after me…”

James shook his head. “I’m coming after you whether you like it or not, idiot.” He punched Sirius affectionately in the shoulder. “So think about that before you do anything stupid. C’mon, let’s go back.”

And they made their way back toward the Leaky Cauldron together.


End file.
